Monday, December 14, 2009

A Health Care Compromise That I Might Support

Josh over at TPM seems to think that at this point since Joe LIEberman is showing his ass that the best thing to do would be for the Democratic Leadership in the Senate to court Olympia Snowe again and instead try to get her vote. I don't necessarily disagree. I think its apparent at this point that Lieberman is just bullshitting and that he has no plans whatsoever to vote for cloture on a health care reform bill no matter what. Of course he said at the beginning of the process that he didn't think we needed health care reform so this really shouldn't surprise anyone.

But here is MY thing. If the Democrats want to put a trigger on a public option then I won't like it but under one circumstance I will hold my nose and support it. The public humiliation Joe Lieberman by stripping him of all his chairmanships and seniority at a very public press conference.

Not only would this be good policy, but good politics for the Democrats. Nobody can accuse them of banishing him because of purity tests. Remember he isn't actually a Democrat anyway AND he campaigned heavily for the Republican candidate for President last year. I was outraged from the get go that he was allowed to keep his chairmanships after all that and had no problem saying so. But at the time some good folks on the left kept telling me that it was all some great chess move by President Obama that would pay off in the long run.

Yeah, score one for me.

And I can promise you this much, liberals and progressives will not support a health care reform bill without a robust public option BUT kicking Lieberman's ass to the curb is very likely to fire up the base. Its time to drop the dead weight that is fucking up all our legislation. And overtly it can be a warning to the other jack asses in the me first caucus like Ben Nelson. Being a Democrat doesn't mean somebody has to agree with every single piece of legislation, but they for damn sure better not be standing in the way of up and down votes on legislation that has been on the Democratic platform for decades.

So Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, and the rest of you jackasses getting ready to sell the farm on health care reform for one Republican vote, just know that axing LIEberman, publicly and in a humiliating fashion just might soften the blow. Speaking strictly for myself of course.